Boat and Boatman Licencing

Section 94 of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act 1907 (as amended) authorises Local Authorities to grant licences for pleasure boats and pleasure vessels to be let for hire or to be used for carrying passengers for hire and also for persons in
charge of navigating such vessels. The text of Section 94 of the Act is given below.

SECTION 94 OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH ACTS AMENDMENT ACT 1907

The local authority may grant upon such terms and conditions as they may think fit licences for pleasure boats and pleasure vessels to be let for hire or to be used for carrying passengers for hire, and (persons in charge of or navigating) such boats
and vessels, and may charge (for each type of licence) such annual fee as appears to them to be appropriate.

Any such licences may be granted for such period as the local authority may think fit, and may be suspended or revoked by the local authority whenever they shall deem such suspension or revocation to be necessary or desirable in the interests of the
public; provided that the existence of the power to suspend or revoke the licence shall be plainly set forth in the licence itself.

No person shall let for hire any pleasure boat or pleasure vessel not so licensed or at any time during the suspension of the licence for the boat or vessel, nor shall any person carry or permit to be carried passengers for hire in any pleasure boat
or vessel unless,

the boat or vessel is so licensed and the licence is not suspended; and

the person in charge of the boat or vessel and any other person navigating it is so licensed and his licence is not suspended and the conditions of his licence are complied with.

A licence under this section shall not be required for any boat or vessel duly licensed by or under any regulations of the Marine & Coastguard Agency (or for a person in charge of or navigating such a boat or vessel).

No person shall carry or permit to be carried in any pleasure boat or pleasure vessel a greater number of passengers for hire than shall be specified in the licence applying to such boat or vessel, and every owner of any such boat or vessel shall,
before permitting the same to be used for carrying passengers for hire, paint or cause to be painted, in letters and figures not less than one inch in height and three-quarters of an inch in breadth, on a conspicuous part of the said boat or vessel, his
own name and also the number of persons which it is licensed to carry, in the form "Licensed to carry persons".

Every person who shall act in contravention of the provisions of this section shall for each offence be liable to a penalty not exceeding (level 3 on the standard scale) (but a person shall not be guilty of an offence under this sub-section by reason
of a failure to comply with such conditions as are mentioned in sub-section (3) (b) of this section if it is shown that there is a reasonable excuse for the failure).

Any person deeming himself aggrieved by the withholding, suspension, or revocation of any licence under the provisions of this section may appeal to a petty sessional court held after the expiration of two clear days after such withholding,
suspension, or revocation: provided that the person so aggrieved shall give twenty-four hours' written notice of such appeal, and the ground thereof, to the clerk, and the court shall have power to make such order as they see fit and to award costs,
such costs to be recoverable summarily as a civil debt.

No licence under this section shall be required in respect of pleasure boats and pleasure vessels on any canal owned or managed by the British Waterways Board.

In sub-section (1) and (3) of this section "let for hire" means let for hire to the public.